The Engagement
by Loves to dance
Summary: [Completed] Lily and James have been together for about two years. This is my lovely short story about how James asks Lily to marry him.
1. Lily & James

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any characters that you see in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J. K. Rowling.

"Wow, Lily, don't you look nice today," commented Scarlett. And she did look nice; she had on a beautiful black dress. The dress had pink flowers scattered about it, not too many though. It was a spaghetti strap dress, and the bottom of it was cut in a V, getting longer in the back. Lily's strapy, black sandals made her about three inches taller. Her dark, red hair was worn down today.

Lily smiled and said," Thanks, do I really look okay though?"

"You look gorgeous, Lily," responded her friend, "what's the big occasion anyways?

"James asked me out to dinner tonight. He said it was a somewhat fancy place too. I'm just nervous I won't look nice enough," Lily answered.

"Lily, I wouldn't worry about it. You could go into that place dressed in rags, and James wouldn't give a damn," Scarlett told her as she started painting her toenails red.

Lily thought about that and silently agreed. James loved her, and she loved him. It wouldn't matter to him how she looked, as long as she was there. That's one of his many qualities that she loved about him. She had always been able to be herself around him.

"Lily, hello, are you still there?" Gracie, Lily and Scarlett's other roommate, was waving her hands in front of Lily's face, trying to get her attention.

"Sorry Gracie must have zoned out," she muttered. She didn't like that she was knocked back to reality, if Lily could have it her way, she would have stood there and daydreamed about James all day long.

"Anyways, Lily, now that I've got your attention, I'll continue my story. So, I was in Diagon Alley, and I saw the most gorgeous guy that I have ever met. And we started talking and such. And we were talking for a good ten minutes when it hit me; I was talking to Clay Askew. That guy from Ravenclaw that Zoë went out with during our seventh year. Can you believe the coincidence?" Gracie said with a huge amount of enthusiasm.

Lily searched her mind for any recognition. Oh, yes, she remembered now. He had asked Zoë to Hogsmeade sometime during October. She really didn't pay much attention to that matter though, for at the time, she had many other things on her mind. James Potter being the primary thought.

James, somehow her mind had always turned back to him. She remembered that it had been about two weeks before the Halloween Ball when he first entered her train of thought, well, in a good way. Years before she had despised him, but he changed during their seventh year. He asked her to the Ball, explaining that since both of them had no date, they might as well go together. He kissed her the night of the dance, and since then, they have been together. Minus the little fights every so often, but she didn't like to think about that.

She snapped back into reality once she heard a knock on the door.

Gracie tossed her long, brown hair behind her shoulders and heading to answer the door.

James appeared in the doorway, looking extremely handsome and a little anxious as well. Lily quickly put that thought behind her as he smiled that smile that could make her weak in the knees. He slowly walked over to her and took her hand in his.

"Well, we should be going now," James said, to any other person he would have sounded perfectly normal. But Lily knew him better than anyone else; after all they had been together for two years already. She sensed something in his voice, but couldn't exactly tell what it was. It couldn't possibly nerves, could it?

He guided her out of the room and down the stairs of the apartment. Lily leaned against him and shut her eyes for a brief second. He smelled so good, she loved that about him. It was a soapy kind of smell, but it was his soapy smell. She opened her eyes a smiled, she loved him so much.

As the couple walked out of the apartment, they made their way over to an alley way. Lily wondered what the hell James was up to. Why on earth was he taking her in here? He led her next to an old Frisbee, one that had about ten small cracks in it.

"Hold on to this," he told her. She followed his instructions, but was quite puzzled. This was a dirty, mangy looking Frisbee. And she was not very happy to be holding it.

And all of a sudden Lily gasped, she felt like she was being pushed out of a window. Except, she never fell. Lily couldn't understand what was going on. She couldn't see James anymore; in fact, all she could see were colors flying past her. Then it stopped.

**Author's Note:** Please Review and tell me what you think.


	2. Lavina's

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any characters that you see in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J. K. Rowling.  
  
The next moment, Lily found that everything had stopped and she was in James' arms. However, the scenery had improved dramatically. Instead of an old, dark alley, she was standing in front of a restaurant. There was a sign on the building that read, Lavina's. Hmm, that sounded familiar. Yet, she knew that she had never been here before. Of course! Scarlett had told her about this place. It was one of the richest, finest restaurants in all of Wizard England.  
  
As nice as the restaurant looked, Lily couldn't forget the feeling that she had just experienced. It almost made her sick.  
  
"James, what the hell was that?" she asked, her voice somewhat frantic.  
  
"It was a portkey," he responded. And added in a teasing tone, "didn't you enjoy it?"  
  
"There are no words to describe how I enjoyed it," she responded, just a little grumpy.  
  
This was not how James had pictured the evening to start out. He didn't want her angry with him at a time like this. Trying to make up for the portkey, he put his arm around her waist and directed them to the front entrance.  
  
Once they were inside the building, all of Lily's anger went away. The building was stunning. The ceiling had beautiful designs embroidered in the white colored material. A gigantic chandelier hung from it. There must have been at least one hundred lights on it, all surrounded by crystal fixings. The tables were all private, so no one could be overheard or disturbed. Each table was blanketed with a white table cloth, red roses at the center. The walls were elegantly designed as well. Every few meters there was a candle mounted for decoration. There was even a live band, playing classy, instrumental music. Lavina's even held a small section for dancing. At the sight of everything, Lily truly knew why she loved James. He knew what would be perfect for her, and this was it.  
  
Lily was in such awe that she hadn't even realized that they were seated.  
  
"James everything is so amazing," she told him.  
  
"You're amazing."  
  
Lily blushed at his words. He had told her multiple times that he loved her, that she was beautiful, and several other flattering compliments; however, she never failed to blush each time.  
  
"James the food here is delicious," Lily said as she took a huge bite of her Fettuccine Alfredo.  
  
James laughed as the pasta slightly hung out of her mouth. "You know, if I were you, I wouldn't be harassing me about my bad manners when you can't even manage to eat some pasta."  
  
"Well, theirs a difference between the situations though," she began, but was shortly cut off.  
  
"Oh, yes. I do it at a small, fast-food place and you do it at a big, fancy restaurant. Yes, you're right, my doing it is far worse," he teased.  
  
"No, I'm serious. You see, where you do it, everybody can see you. Here, where I did it, we are in a booth, therefore no one can see me."  
  
He couldn't really see her point, but humored her anyways.  
  
Dinner was amazing, and the couple continued chatting about pointless topics, what was new in their lives, and even started reminiscing about Hogwarts.  
  
"Care to dance?" James asked, as he stood up and held out a hand.  
  
Lily smiled and accepted.  
  
As they reached the dance floor, Lily could feel James' arms around her waist. She quickly rested her arms around his neck, pulling herself closer to him. She loved this feeling so much, just being in his arms made her feel like nothing bad would ever happen to her.  
  
James looked down and saw that Lily's eyes were almost shut. He couldn't help but think how peaceful she looked. He loved looking down in his arms and seeing her, in fact, he loved everything about her. He loved the way she fit perfectly in his arms, the way she always smelled so sweet, the way she smiled at him, the way she made him laugh, and the way she made him feel as if the only the two of them existed, even in a crowded room.  
  
As they continued to dance across the dance floor, James leaned down and whispered, "I love you," into Lily's ear. She smiled up at him and kissed him in reply. They broke away shortly, not caring that many people in the restaurant were stealing glances at them. They were in love, and as long as they had each other, everything was perfect.  
  
As the evening drew to a near, James knew he was running out of time. He had to do this, the night was perfect. He couldn't do it here though. He didn't want to do it here. He wanted Lily to know how much he loved her, and displaying it at a restaurant was just not special enough. He wanted this to be original, and from the heart.  
  
After dinner and dessert, James paid for the bill and the couple left Lavina's.  
  
"James, we're not gong back in a portkey are we?" her voice was full of hope that the hellhole the James called a portkey wouldn't ever happen again.  
  
"What I thought you loved those things," he joked.  
  
"Okay, just making sure. So I'll just apparate home and see you tomorrow," she leaned in to kiss him goodnight, but he pulled away.  
  
"What are you talking about? The night's not over yet," he said it with a slight twinkle in his eyes.  
  
"James, I'm not going over to your house tonight. I promised Gracie I would go to Diagon Alley with her in the morning."  
  
"No, no, no, you misunderstood me. You don't have to come back to my house. I just wanted to go for a walk in the park down the street," he replied.  
  
"Oh," was all she muttered. She didn't want to go back to James' house, but she didn't like the fact that he didn't want to. She felt a little uncomfortable at the comment she made.  
  
"Come on now," James said as he grabbed her hand, apparently not noticing her embarrassment.  
  
**Author's Note:** Okay, that's chapter two! Tell me what you think. Also, I have already written the final chapter of this, I just need to do a few fix ups, so I'll probably have it out sometime tomorrow! 


	3. The Proposal

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any characters that you see in the Harry Potter books, they belong to J. K. Rowling.

As they slowly walked toward the park, Lily felt James release her hand and put his arm around her shoulders. She tilted her head against his chest and placed her arm around his waist.  
  
Once they entered the park, Lily saw just how beautiful it really was. The sky was jet black, with bright stars to fill it. She could see flowers being illuminated by an enchantment in the ground. There was a nice, long parkway; benches lined the outside of it. In the middle of the flowers and park, there was a fountain. The water was glistening against another light enchantment.  
  
James led her to one of the benches and they sat down in a comfortable silence. Her head was now completely on his shoulder. He looked down at the woman he loved, his Lily. He wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and never let go. He wanted to be with her for the rest of their lives.  
  
"You know, when I was younger I used to sneak out of the house and come here to think," James revealed.  
  
"You're kidding, right?" Lily questioned. She knew that he lived on the other side of town. This place was definitely not within walking distance.  
  
"Nope. I used to fly on my broom out here. I loved to come and think here."  
  
She snuggled closer to him and asked," What did you think about?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe a fight I just had with my parents, or stupid stuff that I thought was important."  
  
"That's very cute," she responded and leaned her head upward to give him a light kiss on the lips.  
  
"You know, I came here the other day too."  
  
"Why?" she asked.  
  
"I was thinking about you. And how much I love you," he began.  
  
However, he was cut off when she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. "You are one of the sweetest people I have ever known," she told him.  
  
He smiled at her words, but what he really wanted was for her to stop talking and listen to him.  
  
Suddenly, James pulled away from Lily's embrace. He got off of the bench and kneeled down in front of her, gently taking her hands in his.  
  
"You know that I have loved for over two years now," he saw her nod at this, "and nothing makes me happier than being with you." He saw a smile and blush appear on her face.  
  
He paused to smile back, but continued shortly after, "I wake up every morning thinking about the dreams that I dreamt about you, wishing you were with me. When I see you and my heart skips a beat. When I hold you in my arms, I never want to let go. You are the only person who has ever made that happen to me."  
  
He paused again to see her eyes swelling up with tears, a huge smile on her face. "I love you Lily Marie Evans. Will you marry me?"  
  
With those final words, James pulled out an engagement ring. Lily gasped; it was a ½ carat gold diamond ring. The center diamond shined and sparkled against the moonlight above. There were also two smaller diamonds embedded in the metal on either side of the centerpiece.  
  
Lily slowly nodded her head, tears were fully coming down her rosy cheeks. "Yes, yes, yes!" she exclaimed, each time saying it louder as if to convince herself it was true.  
  
She flew her arms around James' neck and kissed him hard on the lips. He kissed her back, but it was shortly broken by Lily as she felt the need to say, "I love you."  
  
James slid the ring onto Lily's slim fingers. It fit her perfectly. Lily gawked at the ring that was placed on her left ring finger.  
  
James pulled Lily back into a tight embrace, kissing her with passion and excitement. He was going to marry the girl of his dreams, _his Lily_.  
  
They stayed that way for quite some time, Lily occasionally glancing at the diamond ring. It was the happiest day of both of their lives.**Author's Note:** Hope you all liked the story. Please review! And thanks to everyone who reviewed the other two chapters! 


End file.
